


Capture

by GretchenSinister



Category: Guardians of Childhood & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012), Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Golden Age, Multi, pitchinersand, rated T for thematic elements, relationship is background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 23:02:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20714000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "So I was working on cosplay and I had Stargate Atlantis on as background noise, and the episode ‘Hide and Seek’ came up. It stuck the worst plot bunny in my head but I’m suffering from the worst writer’s block so I figured I’d post it here.Basically, in 'Hide and Seek’, a creature that feeds on energy and looks like a cloud of darkness gets released from its prison in Atlantis and begins feeding upon the city and scaring the inhabitants. It’s sentient (mostly) and eventually becomes so powerful that it has to be tricked into leaving the city. One of the characters, Teyla, has a great line in that that would really work for something like this- “Everything is afraid of something.”So what if it was a Fearling that had been caught? What if the Ancients were part of the Constellations, working to destroy the darkness in the universe? The Wraith are certainly terrifying...[cut for length]"What I did for this one was write a Golden Age fic where fearlings have so far been impossible to capture, until someone in Atlantis manages it. Kozmotis goes to verify that it was really a fearling that was captured, and contemplates what that might mean.





	Capture

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 9/21/2015.
> 
> Here's the rest of the prompt: "...maybe dump Pitch in Pegasus and let him loose to terrorize anyone that comes across his path and gain his old power back?
> 
> I really just want anything with this. Anything at all. I’m not picky. It would just be the greatest thing ever. Please, thank you and blue jello for all."
> 
> There were only four fills in the kinkmeme that I filled that centered on Kozmotis! I’ve written much more just on my own! But this is my top fic including Kozmotis for the Rise of the Guardians kinkmeme, so I’m just listing this one and not making a series. See more of Koz in The Kozmotis Collection.

“So, you managed to capture it,” Kozmotis said. The container which Dr. Kiva had told him held a live, whole fearling resembled a coffin to him, though if pressed, he would of course say that it was simply an oblong box. After all, he was the Golden General, and if he was moved at all by coffins, it was to be moved to displays of sympathy towards the loved ones of the fallen. Developing an instinctual, irrational revulsion to anything that looked like one was not an image of the Golden General that fit with his public persona. But he had known this for some time and did not need to carefully consider this revulsion and how it fit into everything else that he thought, felt, or did that failed to correspond to the Golden General personality. He could, thankfully, focus on what Dr. Kiva was telling him, because what she had to say might actually make a difference in the progress of the war.  
  
“Yes,” Dr. Kiva said. “We hadn’t set out to capture a fearling, specifically, but our lab works in general to develop new means of containing esoteric substances, and I think you might agree that the substance of a fearling is perhaps the most esoteric of all. Why, I know some of our scientists who would give multiple limbs just to get closer to the front lines! We hardly see any fearlings out here, and you’ll probably tell us to be grateful, but,” she put her hand on the container casually, as if it didn’t contain one of the beings that had spread like a plague of both body and mind through the Constellan confederation and then the surrounding galaxy, as if it didn’t look like a coffin, as if it was truly secure, as if anything was truly secure. Kozmotis heard Dr. Kiva pause and realized he had not heard anything she had had to say after she had put her hand on the container.  
  
“What is it made of?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t asking her to repeat something she had just told him. She didn’t look at him strangely, and he relaxed a little. If she had just been talking about wanting to see more fearlings, it was probably for the best that he hadn’t heard.  
  
“Lead, mostly—of all things,” she told him. “I know that must seem somewhat counterintuitive, based on what data has been gathered on the apparent relationships between fearlings and non-living substances, but it’s true. I should probably wash my hands after touching it.”  
  
_Yes!_ Kozmotis thought. _Yes! Yes, you should!_ He nodded, not trusting his voice to keep his unusual vehemence hidden.  
  
Dr. Kiva continued speaking with him as she walked to a nearby sink. “Now, I know you’re here because you were to verify that the thing we captured was actually a fearling, and I’d like to get your opinion of the best way to go about that. We lost Dr. Bew getting it contained in the first place, and while that was a terrible accident, we can’t exactly have _two_ terrible accidents within such a short time of each other.”  
  
“Excuse me, what did you say?” Kozmotis felt sweat prickle at the back of his neck. _It’s a coffin it’s a coffin it’s really really a coffin._  
  
“Well, the only thing that draws fearlings is sentient fear,” Dr. Kiva said with a shrug. “It was bad luck that Dr. Bew was inside the container at the time, testing for any corrosion left by one of the substances we intended this container to be used for, but it probably saved the rest of us. Dr. Bew was always the most afraid of the fearlings, which was good, because most of the rest of us were flat-out panicking as we sealed the container. But it’s held. We were all so afraid that it wasn’t secure, that if that was the case, we would have found out right away.”  
  
Kozmotis wondered if her calm was a façade, like his had been for months after having to deal with his first fearling-possessed comrade. But she was right. If the fearling was loose, Atlantis would have noticed by now. He could make this case easily to the Constellan Council. And yet.  
  
“We will not be sacrificing anyone else for the sake of opening and reclosing this fearling’s prison,” Kozmotis said. “However, you must provide the broad-spectrum data records for the time leading up to and immediately following the fearling’s capture, so that it may be verified that what you captured was a fearling.” He paused, watching Dr. Kiva nod. “After this, gather all the information required to reproduce the container. This information will not be demanded, at least initially.” He folded his hands behind his back. “But you can no doubt easily see how it could be classified almost immediately as information vital to the preservation of sentient life in the universe. Once it is determined that you have captured a fearling, be prepared to accept the offer made to you. Atlantis will probably be given a monopoly on production for the length of your lifetime. Do not ask for more unless you want to receive nothing.”  
  
“Are you threatening me?” Dr. Kiva asked. She sounded utterly surprised, and also as if she wanted to argue, as if she had never heard of threats except in some long ago workplace ethics meeting in which she had been informed never to submit to such things.  
  
Kozmotis fought the urge to sigh and rub his temples. “No. I am explaining to you what is likely to happen. If I was threatening you I would want you to be afraid. Currently, I simply want you to be informed so you can make an appropriate choice.”  
  


* * *

  
  
When he had returned to his quarters on Atlantis, Kozmotis lay on his side, curled up, looking at the wall if he looked at anything. What would it change if the fearlings could be captured? Would it mean fewer coffins? Would it mean the war could actually end? Fearlings could be sliced up and driven off, but no one was sure if that actually killed them or not. If they could be contained, then perhaps their fighting numbers could finally be reduced. Perhaps he could start to feel like the Golden General again, winning real victories. It was a lot of hope to place on one coffin, but it helped him curl less tightly, so he didn’t fight it. What would it be like if the war ended? What would it be like, to have home be where he lived? To have his biggest worry be how to ask Sandy to stay permanently with him and Cybele. For Seraphina to have more than one parent around.  
  
Could things get that simple for the Golden General? He wasn’t sure. He had been recruited to be the Golden General, and the people that had made him were quite enamored of their craftsmanship. What would they make of him once all the fearlings were captured?  
  
At this point, he felt it would be worth almost everything to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments from Tumblr:
> 
> bowlingforgerbils said: poor Kozmotis. :(


End file.
